


Extraction

by Litaraniel



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 14:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3413501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Litaraniel/pseuds/Litaraniel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A dream-sharing gone wrong. An extractor to set things right. A team that has done the impossible before. And an adventure that will leave its mark for a lifetime. No matter how well you prepare, Limbo is full of surprises.</p><p>Post-Canon in regard to Inception.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Extraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a crossover, but I'm not sure I can mark it as one since the other canon isn't present yet.

As a highly skilled specialist of a rare, dangerous and not entirely legal trade, Diego Carrero said "no" rather easily. In particular, his current visitor and the job offer he was describing had all chances of receiving a no for an answer so far, despite appearing quite legal.

To sum up the carefully worded, business-length explanations, there was a dream-sharing gone wrong, and one of the participants failed to wake up. The job offer was to go into the dream and get him out.

The only reason why Diego was still listening was that the name of the mark was familiar. Professor de Sanchez. Diego has read his books.

Throwing a glance out the window – the sun was just about to hide behind the cityline – Diego looked at his visitor again. Something about that man irked Diego, and he couldn't quite figure out why, which was rather distracting.

It was a typical businessman, suit and all. Nothing particularly appealing, but nothing particularly unpleasant, either. The man was a little shorter than Diego, and thin, with sharp chin and bony wrists. His nose was, perhaps, a little big for his narrow face, but Diego wasn't petty enough to dislike him for that. Deeply set hazel eyes had a very shrewd look to them, but the man held Diego's glance steadily, so couldn't be faulted for that either.  

He introduced himself as Liam Peters from New Aragon Publishing.

Diego didn't quite get why New Aragon Publishing was willing to pay for saving an employee of UCLA (at least that is where Diego thought de Sanchez worked), but he certainly understood why the man needed saving in the first place.

Enrique de Sanchez, his proposed mark, had a degree in history, and perhaps in some other fields, but was mostly known for his research on educational uses of dream-sharing. Getting lost in the unconstructed dream space was an occupational hazard for people like him; as well as it was for Diego.

"I'm an extractor, not a therapist," he finally said when Peters stopped talking. "I'm sorry that it happened to professor de Sanchez, but I'm not the ministry of lost souls. You need a different kind of specialist on that one."

"But that's exactly the point!" The man replied agitatedly. "The therapists failed. You see, their typical patient exists in a fantasy world that is easy to infiltrate and relatively easy to affect. Because the second dreamer becomes a co-creator, right? The therapist then can use some suitable symbols and imagery to lead the patient towards the idea that their world isn't real. Or, failing that, simply kill the dreamer to wake them up."

"So?"

"You see, the world where professor de Sanchez got his mind lost is very realistic and, dare I say, brutal. They're just not ready to deal with it! They stand out, they can't avoid getting captured and promptly executed. We need someone who's prepared for the violence. Thus, an extractor is our best chance. Besides, you are particularly known for your ability to fit in."

Peters was spot on in this, which, irrationally, irritated Diego instead of pleasing him. Still, that was correct. Diego never considered himself the best extractor there was – that was Cobb, hands down – maybe not even in the top ten, but he was definitely among the subtlest. Which also made him one of the best mind security instructors. His intrusion was so hard to notice that, when he finally trained his clients' subconscious mind to react to it, they simply tore to pieces anyone else who entered their dreams. To the best of Diego's knowledge – and he researched extensively – his defences were never broken. Even by Cobb, which gave Diego immense pleasure at the time. It couldn't be proved, of course, but the client's description of the man who claimed to be "the head of his subconscious security" was very close to how Dom Cobb looked like.

The downside to Diego's method was that it took extremely long to reach the results (he just wasn't cut for the teaching aspect of this work), thus he wasn't the most popular choice, but it still paid extremely well. And when it didn't… old good extraction was always in demand.

But he was never asked to save someone before.

"You can employ another specialist in mind security then," he replied to Peters. "Contact Cobb, he's the best in the depth thing. For all I know, he might have invented multilayering."

"Dominic Cobb has left the dream-sharing business."

"Really, now?"

"Yes. Rumour has it, someone got lost in the limbo in the last job he has taken. But we haven't managed to find out anything more specific."

"Alright. What about others?"

"You were our next choice, Mr.Carrero."

That was… flattering. Peters still irked Diego and it still bothered him that he couldn't figure out what was the source of irritation, but… what a challenge! So what if he had to extract a person rather than their information? It was still extraction. And he was one of the best, if there was subtlety required.

Besides, he enjoyed de Sanchez' books. Would be a pity if professor didn't wake up.

"If I take this job," Diego started slowly, "I'm going to have a lot of conditions."

"We'll try to meet them all," Peters ensured.

"I need full access to all materials of whatever it was de Sanchez worked on when the incident occurred. He does work in UCLA, right?"

"This is ensured already, and yes, he does."

"And I want cooperation from those who went into the dream with him."

"Of course."

"And I'll need to talk to everyone who attempted to wake him up or even just assess the situation in his mind after the incident."

"Understood."

"And an answer to one question."

Peters tensed. "If I'm… allowed to answer, I will."

"Well, what does your company get from all of it? This is going to be expensive, and I believe de Sanchez himself cannot afford it. So what happens when he wakes up – he ends up owing you a crazy amount of money? Cause that doesn't seem right to me."

"Ah, you see, Mr. Carrero," Peters breathed out in relief and fiddled with his tie. "New Aragon Publishing was sponsoring professor de Sanchez in his recent project. There was a presentation planned – already announced, although without an exact date. And we have a contract for his new book, it was supposed to be ready for print just before the presentation – a signing session was included. Then a Q&A session, a ball with the best art graduates, a charity auction, this kind of thing. It promised to be a big success, profit for all parties involved… but you can't have an event without the star. And we don't have even a draft of the book, just a few chapters he provided when we signed the contract."

And that was when the feeling in Diego's gut and thoughts in his mind finally aligned. Peters was leaving things out. Even now, he wasn't telling something.

"You've got to spill it all, or no deal."

Peters sighed and pulled on his tie again.

"We were planning to propose changing the contract to an exclusive one. So that professor doesn't print his new book with other publishers. It would be more prestigious for our agency, as well as allow us to set a noticeably higher retail price. Add to it a few related rights – such as a right for comic books, screenplay in case of filming, derivative materials – and it would fully cover our expenses."

Now that made sense. Of course, they were going to wring that contract dry, but at least it wasn't a financial trap. And it was fine with Diego. Especially since he seemed to finally put his finger on what was wrong with Peters.

"Alright," he said. "You know my prices. I charge by the hour, the preparations will cost like the practical mind defense lessons, and I expect daily payments, for the first eight hours – in advance. The price for the actual hands-on work is under _'high-profile practical work with increased risks_ '." Which actually stood for extraction in Diego's price-list, but neither of them would mention that. "If and only if the preparations are successful, I go down under, after receiving half of the payment in advance. The remaining half after the job is done. Ah, and you pay to the team from your own money."

"The team? What team?"

"The team that I'm going to try and recruit. I'm not about to do this madness alone."

Diego wasn't Cobb, but he could try to get his people.


End file.
